In recent years, the front opening holster as typified by that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,420 has gained wide spread acceptance particularly because of its resistance to unauthorized withdrawal by an assailant who attempts to remove an officer's handgun by approaching the officer from the rear and pulling the handgun upward. The features of the front opening holster which prevent such occurance are best described in the aforementioned patent and have been reported to have saved the lives of a number of law enforcement officers. The front opening holster is distinct in appearance, characterized by an opening which extends from top to bottom at the front of the holster. Some officers find the appearance less than attractive and consequently some have continued to use the pouch type holster with the loss of the protective features of the front opening holster.
Faced with this situation, we set about to determine if the advantages of a front opening holster could be achieved in a design which does not depart so radically from conventional pouch type holsters while giving the protective features so needed for the safety of law enforcement officers.